A Voice of Malice
by Pielord's Pie
Summary: With parents that died almost seven years ago, Cris has delved into the darker side of the world. But in darkness, there is light. One that he has to go towards to fulfill his lifelong dream: Revenge. Revenge against those that ruined his life. Rated T out of safety. Second fanfic, will accept criticism. TEMPORARY COVER IMAGE, WORKING TO FIND A NEW ONE.
1. Prologue

Prologue: The End?

They heard the crash of their front door opening before their 10 year old child did. The man and the woman both shot up immediately, the man calming the woman and grabbing his gauntlets."Probably just a robber, I can handle this alone," he whispered to her so as not to alert their assailant. He slowly opened his door, and peered out of the crack to see what only his worst nightmares could bring.

A fire sorceress only known by the name of Cinder, as well as another man who looked like he wasn't armed, was creeping up the stairwell. The one who didn't seem to have any form of weapon up his sleeves disturbed him the most. He always said, _Those who don't come armed are the most dangerous, because they don't need weapons to beat my ass._ Or at least, he heard that from someone important, but that didn't matter at the moment. He noticed that they reached the top of the stairs and turned to the door that his child was behind. At that exact moment, he feared the worst would happen, so he rushed out, and attempted to stop them before anything happened that would put his child in danger.

Just before he reached them, the man raised his hand and the father stopped in his tracks. He couldn't move to save his life, which he would need to, because Cinder decided to turn around at that moment.

"Ah, it appears we have company. And what the best 'company' to have, none other than the great Stormsearcher himself," she said.

In the Hunter community, it was not uncommon to go by another name as to protect someone's identity. "Stormsearcher" was a name that described his semblance, which allowed him to control weather patterns. Doesn't seem interesting at first, but it had a powerful twist: say he was confronted by a horde of Grimm in the forest. If he so wished it, he could call upon a thunderstorm that would wipe the area clean of Grimm, yet leave him unharmed. While he didn't have _complete _control over nature, he could use it to his advantage.

That name failed him, however, because here were the two people out to kill him.

Meanwhile, the child had heard this too, and feared for their lives. He didn't know the voice, but could tell that from the view words that were said, that this woman was bad business. He tried to close his eyes and go back to sleep, hoping that when he awoke tomorrow morning that all would be well. His brain would not, however, allow him to rest. He continued to listen in on the voices, and heard talk of the tortures they were about to put his father through. He quickly surveyed his options. He could attempt to fight, as he had been trained by his father how to wield a sword, even though a sword was not his father's main weapon of choice, and he had a staff that could be wielded in a fashion similar to that of a sword. His other option was to stay in his room and hope that they wouldn't kill him.

Like any ignorant, adolescent 10 year old, he picked up his staff and chose to fight.

He barged out the door just as the flame was brought close to his father's face. In less than a second, he had rushed at the woman who attempted to harm his father and swung. In less than a second, his staff was burned to the ground. He didn't know that his woman could control fire, obviously.

Cinder turned to him. "Why are there so many unexpected guests this night? All I wanted was to come in and do some business," she said while looking at the boy.

The boy, still being ignorant and not realizing this woman's power, decided to lash out at her. The woman swiftly caught his arm, and while she wasn't the strongest in terms of physical strength, she could definitely overpower this boy. She threw his arm away and the man swiftly forced him to his knees with his other hand.

"Sadly, for you, I believe this is the end of the line." Without a second though, Cinder moved her hand from the father's face and the father could only watch in horror as he watched his son get burned. _I failed, _he thought miserably. _I failed horribly._

The mother only realized what was going on when he heard the yell of pain from her son. She rushed out of bed, still in her pajamas, and grabbed her specially modified pike with a sniper scope attached to the end of it, indicating it was high velocity. She rushed out of their room, and aimed her gun directly at Cinder and fired. The damage was already done though, and her son was hurt beyond belief.

Cinder blocked the bullet without so much as a second thought by using her improved senses and control of fire to burn the bullet mid-flight. The man stopped forcing the boy to his knees, as he had given up fighting after the burn, and directed his control over to the armed woman. He disabled her weapon and held the mother and father in suspension.

The child saw all of this happening with what consciousness he had left, and saw that both of them were trapped. He faded out to black as he lost consciousness.

The next time he awoke, he was in a hospital, but he didn't care. He had heard from the doctor that was watching over him that his parents had died, and after that, he didn't care what happened, what financial aid the doctor's were giving him. He only had one thing on his mind.

_Revenge._ Revenge against those jackasses that thought they could mess with him.

* * *

Cris awoke and instinctively clutched the scar across his face, a reminder of what happened 7 years ago. In reality, it was his scroll vibrating, indicating he had a call from his employer, Junior. Unlike Junior's henchmen, which in all reality were about as special as a box of rocks, Cris was special. He had come to him a few years ago, and decided to do odd jobs for Junior as a method of getting by. He hadn't really done anything wrong, because most of the stuff Junior wanted him to do involved some form of gathering information, which Cris had a knack for gathering quickly. His only blunder was not being around during a special exchange between Junior and what Junior described as a "fiery maelstrom of rage." He would have paid all of the money he had earned from Junior to see him fight that beast. He may have worked for him, but that never merited liking him.

He answered his scroll and promptly said, "Yes?"

"I need you to gather information on a Mr. Hemway. My contacts have persuaded him to go along a certain path. The easiest way to intercept his route is to make your way to the nearest Dust Till Dawn. And no, this doesn't involve a Dust robbery. I just need you to tail him and gather some information. Clear?"

"Crystal." Cris hung, up, and began to prepare for what was about to be the best night of his life.

* * *

**Hello again! I'm not dead (I know right?), and with my return, I come with gifts for all! I would like to point out that the main reason that this didn't come out earlier than it did is because my computer broke (#computerproblems) and had to get it repaired. I literally got it back like two days ago and have been slowly working on this ever since. Anyways, all woes aside, I would like to claim that if any of you even ask if Cris' name is a relation to **_**Gris**_**, which is another FF in the RWBY category, let me just tell you now (and caps lock is absolutely necessary for this), NO, THIS DOES NOT RELATE IN ANY WAY. I have never even read that FF, so don't even accuse me of stealing an idea from it (No hate to whoever made **_**Gris**_**, anyways.) Also, I do not own RWBY in any way shape or form. Please leave a like/favorite/comment, and tell me what I did and didn't do wrong. (I'm still relatively new.)**

**And all this time, I can only imagine how much hate I'm going to get from putting #computerproblems in an author's note. ;-;**


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: A Lifetime Ahead

**Before I begin the first chapter (if you haven't noticed, I'm trying to come up with names that attempt to fit the theme of the chapter, and I think that this one and the prologue aren't terrible. Meh), I have to say that since I hopped onto the RWBY train so late, which basically means halfway through volume 2 (which is awesome, by the way) when I should have started inbetween and got up to volume 2, I'm going to use some aspects of volume two, such as how Ozpin's study looks (I'm assuming it's either a study or an office. Also, spoilers. Duh.) Also, did I mention I'm trying to follow canon as best I can with my plot line? Because if not, these last few sentences (with far too many parentheses…..DOH) pretty much summarize that. This has been an awfully long author's note, so I'm done.**

**Almost. Number of parentheses used in this A/N = (10)**

* * *

The gears turned effortlessly overhead as Ozpin sat his his study desk, analyzing applications for Beacon that passed his assistant's screening process. Speaking of assistants… Where was she? Ozpin hadn't seen her all morning, and she was usually coming in and out all day reporting important information involving the initiation process or other things that were scheduled to take place this year at Beacon Academy, the most renowned Hunter training school in Vale.

"Odd," he muttered to himself as he diverted his attention to something more casual than the considerably large stack of applications he had to eventually finish approving and rejecting, and focused on the gears overhead, inspecting the intricacies of the mechanism.

_Ah, man truly has become ingenious over the past few decades, _Ozpin thought to himself. While he did not create the mechanism overhead, much less understood it, he understood that it was a very intricate system that had been created rather carefully, and such a mechanism has to be maintained regularly. A rather tedious task for a headmaster with stacks of papers that he had to file, sign, or approve.

With a sip of his coffee, he began to get back to work reviewing the applications to the academy. He had plenty of time to finish this before the sun rose over the horizon. At least, that's what he hoped.

* * *

He had been working for about two hours when another well needed distraction averted him from his duties. His scroll was vibrating, indicating a message from his assistant and lifetime friend, Glynda Goodwitch. The message contained information involving financial dues this year for Beacon. He reviewed the assets listed on the list of dues, making sure everything was in order, when he noticed something a bit different from the norm. _Security cameras?_, Ozpin wondered as he tried to recall telling Glynda anything about ordering security cameras. Nothing came to mind. He was even more confused, as the dues for this entry were a grand total of zero Lien.

Puzzled, he closed the message and navigated to his contacts, clicking on Glynda's contact and calling her.

After a few moments, she picked up, and her response was far too formal for lifelong friends. "What is the problem, sir?"

"Please Glynda, drop the formalities. I was just reviewing the financial dues this year, and noticed something new. I understand that the kingdom of Vale has been getting increasingly more dangerous over this past year, but I honestly don't believe we need to have more security cameras installed at the academy than we already do. Care to explain why this is part of the dues?"

Only a pause was heard from the other end. Clearly a sign of confusion from the recipient of this call, and that confusion continued for about half a minute until she finally realized what he was talking about. "I forgot to label the security camera access codes that: security camera access codes." Seeing as there was a pause now from his side, she continued. "Because Vale has been getting increasingly more dangerous, Vale's police department have issued security cameras on every corner streetlight. Seeing as how we are not technically a part of the department, but mutually allied with them, they have provided us the access keys which can be used in conjunction with your scroll to connect to the entire network. This makes it easier on us to send Hunters and Huntresses to deal with any matter that requires them in terms of navigating Vale."

Now it all made sense. "Thank you for informing me, Glynda." He was about to hang up when something crossed his mind. "One more question. Where in Remnant are you at this moment?"

A sound indicating that she had hung up was his only answer.

Slightly annoyed, he decided to try out these security access codes. He went to put the codes in when he realized he had nowhere to put them into as well as the compelling fact that he didn't have the codes to begin with. As if she could sense his confusion, another message appeared, saying;

_Sir, to access the security cameras, you must first go to Vale PD's website, and go to their restricted section, which is clearly labeled. There, it will ask for a form of recognition, in which you input the code. From there, you will be able to switch between all connected cameras._

_Also, the input code is VPD98127security14. _

_- Glynda_

_Now, where would I be without her, _Ozpin thought as he navigated to the correct area of the site, and input the code. Almost instantaneously, he could see all of the interconnected cameras, in most of which nothing were occurring. After another review, however, he noticed one that was different from the others in some way. He began to watch this, unknowing of what was happening.

* * *

Finding Hemway wasn't a problem for Cris; the man was like a gigantic walking target. No, the problem was that the man _knew_ that he was a target. He was constantly checking behind him, making it hard for Cris to tail him effectively. At this time of day, not many people were roaming around Vale's streets, because most of the population had jobs, but there were a few people walking the streets, mainly teenagers preparing for the upcoming school year.

"If only life were that simple…" Cris grumbled to himself before devoting his attention to his target.

He was currently talking to someone over his scroll, about something of which Cris had no interest in. He really should have asked Junior what this man's destination was; he was making turns left and right all through Vale, and if he hadn't paid attention, Cris would have lost him by now.

He had begun to work out Hemway's routine. Just as he was about to say something important, he glanced left and right, and then after a few seconds, did a full double take to check his back. This gave Cris plenty of time to hide in an alleyway, remaining unseen and straining his ears to hear what Hemway had to say this time. Again, unimportant.

Why did Junior want to know more about this guy? To Cris, this man just seemed like an indispensable businessman that liked to attract the attention to the average thief and robber, not an underground crime boss.

Only time could tell, as he continued to follow Hemway to his unknown destination.

* * *

Ozpin was switching in between multiple cameras so he could get a better view of what was going on. He had saw the boy evade acknowledgement from the man he was tailing so effectively that even he was impressed. This wasn't just your everyday criminal, no. This one was special in the fact that he didn't try to rob the man, just tail him.

The boy had learned the man's safety precautions so quickly that whenever the businessman did his double take, the boy was no longer in his line of sight.

Whatever it was about this boy had Ozpin impressed. So impressed that it gave him an idea. A ludicrous idea at best, and based solely on speculation, but an idea still. An idea that Glynda would most likely scold him for later in life, but that didn't matter right now; what did matter was unveiling this boy's true potential as a Hunter.

He went back to the monitors and continued watching.

* * *

Cris was getting seriously annoyed by this guy's sense of direction.

He had taken at least 3 left turns in a row at this point, which almost made him go in a complete circle. Also, every time he wasn't preoccupied with his call, he would look up and actually be surprised at his surroundings, as if he wasn't expecting himself to be there. Cris was seriously willing to bet money that this man was either or drugs or hungover, or potentially both.

Finally, he appeared to be reaching his destination as he slowed down upon sighting the entrance to the Emerald Forest.

_Yeah, this guy is definitely on drugs. I would have won money if that was an actual bet, _he thought, albeit a bit sourly.

Just as they were entering a deeper, more secluded portion of the woods, Hemway finally said goodbye, and Cris then realized that this man was worthless and he would end up losing his pay this go around. He was just turning around to leave when fate decided to rear its ugly head in the form of an enraged businessman.

"Hey, kid! Get back here!," he shouted at Cris. While Cris could easily outrun this mindless drone, he decided too humor him.

"What do you want? I was just about to leave," Cris replied calmly. He was even telling the truth. What a good samaritan he was indeed.

"Why were you following me?! I knew I saw someone behind me at one point," he said partially to Cris, partially to himself.

At that exact moment, a low, guttural growl could be heard from within some foliage next to Hemway. That yelling and shouting he had directed towards Cris had an unintended side-effect of attracting some rather unwelcome attention. They had both heard it, and froze exactly where they were, trying not to make much more noise so they could at least lessen the impact.

In a soft whisper, Hemway asked, "Kid, do you have any form of weapon on you at the moment?"

Cris replied in an equally soft tone, "Yeah, why?"

"Because this is the one day I forgot to bring my dual pistols."

"What a great asset you are…" Cris grumbled loud enough for Hemway to hear.

"Listen, it's not my fault that I was tailed into the Emerald Forest by some kid. I honestly thought I wouldn't end up in a situation like this."

"You honestly thought going into the Emerald Forest unarmed was a _smart _idea?"

This got Hemway to shut up quick. The silence would have been awkward if four Beowolves hadn't emerged from the forest coverage. These Beowolves were fairly large, the largest one being roughly about the size of an average adult horse.

The Beowolves didn't waste anytime in initiating an attack. They all pounced at Hemway, who, despite his size, managed to swerve towards Cris in an attempt to regroup.

"Listen. Temporary truce to deal with these wolves?"

"Deal. Unless you want to get your face mauled, try leading the Beowolves towards me, or get somewhere safe. I'm the only one that has a functional weapon at the moment." For emphasis, he activated his gauntlets, which covered his hands in metal, somewhat but not quite like an average pair of gloves. He got into a stance and prepared for whatever the wolves might do.

Similarly, the wolves seemed to regroup, and got into a pouncing stance, indicating that they were about leap at them.

Whatever was about to happen, it was about to be a living _hell _for the two.

The first wolf jumped at Cris, who deftly dodged right and used that momentum to spin around and hit it, sending it careening into the nearest tree. The other three wolves had became smarter after seeing their comrade fall so easily, and decided to target the one without weapons. They all leaped at Hemway with renewed vigor, and almost got away with ripping his face off if it weren't for his heightened reflexes and when he was forced to the ground by the second wolf, he positioned his legs accurately and pushed upwards with them, causing the wolf to be sent flying behind him. He then used that momentum to flip into a more reasonable position beside Cris.

The other two wolves had regrouped, realizing that these two humans were very agile opponents. They were thinking about their next course of action when their hearing picked up the sound of heavy footfalls. That was an incredibly good sign for them. For Cris and Hemway, that was an incredibly obvious sign that all hell was about to break loose.

Fighting in the Emerald Forest was insanely idiotic in the first place. It all started when Hemway finished his call. Originally, that had only attracted the one pack of Beowolves, who were nearby to begin with. After the fight had begun, however, the sound of trees being assaulted by Beowolf corpses attracted some rather unwanted attention, as an Ursa Major of epic proportions emerged from the forest ahead, literally felling the trees around it.

Cris decided enough was enough and hit a button on the wristguard of his gauntlets, causing a small compartment to rise out from where the back of his hand was, the compartment containing a small rod of some sort. It began to glow a light blue, and made a steadily growing humming noise. The Ursa began lumbering towards them, with each step it took closer to them readily matching the increasing humming from the rod. Cris raised him arm towards the Ursa, aiming for the direct middle of it's chest. When the Ursa was less than 5 feet away, the rod discharge, releasing a bolt of energy that seemingly dimmed the area around them. The world seemed to go in slow motion as the bolt of energy hit the Ursa, making it seem to ripple out of existence. Time returned to normal then, as the Ursa was sent flying through multiple trees, and landed a good distance away. Cris didn't even have to check and see if it was dead or not; nothing, Grimm, human, or fauna alike, could withstand a bolt of energy like that.

He decided to turn to his temporary companion to make snarky remark about him being practically useless and was faced with two snarling Beowolves standing over Hemway, effectively restraining him. Cris knew he wouldn't make it in time to save him, but tried running towards him anyway. The man was as good as dead.

He was, at least, until two sharp gunshots rang out. Two shots, two dead wolves.

They both looked on in confusion, tracing the sound of the gunshot to it's source, only to be greeted with a man wearing a green suit and dark gray pants, light gray hair, a coffee mug in one hand, and a cane with a steaming end in the other.

Hemway stood up and praised the man with thanks, before promptly leaving Cris and the man alone.

They stood in silence for a good few moments, until the man in green asked, "Do you know who I am?"

Cris replied with a shrug. "I know a lot of people. Professor Remedius Ozpin, headmaster of Beacon Academy, I'm assuming."

Ozpin was taken aback at this. No one knew of his first name, preferring his last over his first. The only place his first name could even be found were on his birth certificate and a few documents from when he first started as headmaster at Beacon. He did not show this however, and replied, "Hello, Cris."

Now it was Cris' turn to be taken aback. How did this man know his name? He used many pseudonyms before, and none were ever traced back to him. He did a poor job of hiding it, unlike Ozpin, who noticed. Ozpin said, "We at Beacon have many contacts."

Stilll slightly taken aback, Cris replied with, "Obviously. What made you come out all the way into this side of Vale and into the forest, with impeccable timing of all things?"

"Ah yes, that. I was viewing Vale's street cameras and saw you tailing that businessman. I was impressed by how quickly you adapted to your surroundings and situation. Qualities like that are getting harder and harder to come by these days. I can assume you know where this is going, correct?"

A pause was the only thing he received.

"With all due respect, I would love to go to the academy and be normal, but I can't. I have a criminal record, and as such it would bring a bad record and name to Beacon Academy. I respect what you do, but I myself can't be a part of it."

Ozpin was prepared for this; "Cris, if you so desire it, I can clear your records. While it is frowned upon by politics if I do, I see potential in you Cris, more than ninety percent of the applicants this year, that other ten percent being the potential team leaders. I know that the criminal world can be demanding though, so I'm not going to force or blackmail you into this. Just give it some thought, and if you want to come, classes start in 8 days. Be prepared."

Ozpin turned to leave, before one more thought crossed his mind. "Cris, do you like your choice of weapon?"

A question from left field indeed. "Yes…?" Cris couldn't see where he was going with this.

"I can already tell you that there is someone you are going to want to meet if you come." With that, Ozpin left the clearing they were in with one applicant in particular in mind, leaving Cris alone to contemplate his options.

He didn't have the time though, as his scroll vibrated in his pocket. He opened it to see he was receiving a call from Junior. He answered it, his scroll background being replaced by Junior's face.

"Did you get any good information?" Straight to business, it seemed.

"Sorry, Junior. The guy was practically worthless. Led me around in a circle for half of the day."

"You do realize your getting your pay docked for this, right?"

"Actually, about that… I've been giving it some thought. I just got a really good offer that would improve my life immensely if I took it. The only way I can take it though, is if I quit the job."

The scroll went silent, and he could see Junior's face filled with increasing rage.

"Fine! Leave me! You're not getting this job's pay though, you ungrateful BASTARD!"

The connection went dead, leaving Cris alone in the forest. He let out a long held sigh. The day's events had really exhausted him. He decided it was time to go home and take a well needed nap, only being able to wait those next 8 days for his life to change. The only question was; did it change for better, or for worse?

* * *

**Finally pushed this one out of my brain. There are a few things that I would like to point out. One, I'm pushing this out an hour before volume two episode five goes up (hypetrain CHOO CHOOO). Two, for those of you who are disliking this story because of how short the chapters are (I consider short being below five thousand words), trust me, the chapters will be getting longer as the story progresses. Lastly, I'm not going to have any form of schedule, but I am going to be working on a chapter-in-progress almost every day from now until the end of this story (exceptions being holidays and potential family problems.) That's all I have to say, so please, leave a comment and tell me what you liked and didn't. I need feedback to improve. I'm not going to ask for subs yet, but go ahead.**

**Almost done. Number of line breaks used: 6**

**Edit: A few minor typos were fixed. Sorry for the inconvenience.**


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**So, I realized just how much of an idiot I truly am. I've been calling reviews 'comments' and favorites 'subs.' Too much youtube without writing sucks sometimes. **

**Now, where is that creativity in me now, I need to find a good cover image that fits. COMMENCE CHAPTER 2.**

* * *

They were huddled around a small table, but it served its purpose well. The contents of the table included, and were limited to, one lone document, or collection of documents for that matter. To the normal person, it would look like a bulky letter. These people, however, were not normal.

They were an odd ragtag pair. There was a man with a black bowler cap, a white suit with a red inlining, and had red bangs that covered his right eye. He carried around a cane, which in reality, was a cross between a powerful melee weapon and a destructive ranged weapon. He was peering over the documents, and only one expression was worn on his face; disbelief.

He voiced this. "You want HOW much Dust again?" He still couldn't believe that number in front of him. To steal that much dust, he would need a warehouse all to himself, and above all else, some form of small army.

"You can see how much Dust we need, on the document in front of you," the other occupant said, being a female with a cross between a dark red and dark orange dress, accompanied by red high heels and black hair.

"Yes, I can see, thank you for the compliment. What I want to know, is, WHY do you need this much Dust?" Regardless of the woman's vague answers regarding why he was asked to work with her, he was demanding to know why this much Dust was needed. Surely, they couldn't be going into a war THAT soon…. Right?

"Oh, hush, Roman. You will know what you need when you need to know." This wasn't the first time he had heard this and it definitely wouldn't be the last. "Besides, we need that Dust very soon, or there will be severe consequences." For emphasis, she conjured a flame within her hand, allowing it to die out on it's own.

This convinced Roman to rethink his options. One, he could ignore the woman's request and face whatever she had in store for him should he fail. While he was by no means afraid to fight the woman, he was never good dealing with the magical spectrum of power, preferring the more reliable mechanized weapons that allowed him to fight on an entirely new level. Fighting the woman was definitely not favorable, so that landed him on his second option; give in to the woman's requests and not face the consequences, which could potentially lead to future business.

With this in mind, he replied, "How soon, exactly?"

"100 days. The clock is ticking, Roman. Don't fail me." With that, she left, leaving Roman to his own devices. She knew well why they needed that Dust, but that wasn't going to help ease her mind over something.

She knew that Hunters and Huntresses were no longer confined to fighting Grimm, thus allowing them to assist normal citizens with criminals, such as she was. However, there was one individual in particular that had her worried, one that in her mind was merely a shade from the past.

Seven years ago, she and one of her former affiliates single-handedly removed the greatest Hunter pair in known history. They had a child, however, and that was what was troubling her. They left him to live, figuring that he wouldn't amount to much anyways. There was always that shadow of a doubt, though, that had her wondering if he was out there, somewhere, plotting her every move.

She paid it no mind. In her mind, she was superior. One look at the past reminded her of the power she had over him. _If you want to fight, remember how you got that scar, _she thought before she boarded her private airship.

* * *

Cris just couldn't figure out what to do.

After he had been 'accepted' into Beacon, he used his free time which he never had in the crime world to explore some of Vale. Of course, he knew that city's traffic system like the back of his had, but he seldom went into a shop and actually, well, _bought_ anything. The only exceptions were the local Dust shop, _From Dust Till Dawn_, and the occasional restaurant for food.

Because of this, he found himself staring at the sign for the Dust shop, contemplating if he needed anything from there before going to Beacon. He checked the Dust supply in his gauntlets and found that he was running a bit low in both. _It wouldn't hurt, _he reasoned, before walking into the store nonchalantly. The shopkeeper greeted him, even though he wasn't as regular as the one other occupant, who currently was listening to music while reading the latest issue of _Weapons._

"How can I help you today, Cris?" Normally, if anyone that Cris didn't know called him by his name, he would ignore them and continue walking. The shopkeeper, however, had offered him nothing but exceptional service for the few times that Cris had entered. That had led to him being one of the very few that could get his attention by name.

"I need some more Dust. I'm running a bit low."

He pulled out a canister from underneath the counter. "You know where to find it." Cris thanked the man and went over to the cylinders of dust that lined the shop walls.

As he was filling his canister, he couldn't help but noticing the figure that was standing next to a rack of magazines, in particular the magazine she was reading. '_Weapons'? Never really gave it any thought…_ He decided to pick up one of the issues of the magazine after he finished loading his canister with the fine powder. He flicked through the magazine with less enthusiasm than the girl was, who was apparently reading everything on the page, as if she was a tad obsessed. He was flicking through the magazine until he came upon weapon modifications. He decided to ignore everything not pertaining to gauntlet weapon modification, as he was not obsessed with weaponry.

One thing in particular caught his eye, and that was a modification that allowed gauntlets to sheathe and unsheathe a thin pair of blades. Normally, he was skeptic about modifying what he had already, as he wasn't sure if most modifications were compatible with his style of gauntlets. There was one statement, though, that said that it was a "fit-all" modification, meaning that it was compatible with any and all gauntlets in Remnant. While he would humbly disagree, he figured that it wouldn't hurt to try it. Conveniently, it said that this store in particular was a vendor.

He took his canister of Dust and the magazine, which he bookmarked the page of, to the shopkeeper. He showed the magazine to him and asked, "Would you happen to have one of these?"

The shopkeeper had to squint to read the fine print, but once he did, he nodded and went to the storeroom in the back. In a matter of a few seconds, he returned with a box in hand, which presumably held all of the parts for the weapon mod.

"Will that be all, Cris?"

He nodded.

"That will be 97 Lien." Cris handed over the appropriate amount and wished the shopkeeper a good day.

He exited the store, beginning his trek to the nearest weapon modification shop in Vale, which was nearly an hour away by foot. He didn't mind, though, as he got to experience what Vale had to offer, in particular the culture. Not once had he seen females wear so little clothing in public. _Where did that come from…?,_ he thought sheepishly, as he put the thought aside as he focused on the trek ahead. He then realized that he still had an hour long walk ahead of him…

_This is going to be the longest hour of my life._

* * *

He finally managed to get to the modshop without thinking about _it _too much. He started referring to that thought as _it _because it was sexist and perverted enough to deserve the title. _And people say I'm cold-hearted…_

He gazed at the shop itself. It was called "The Chopshop" by most of the residents, which made it seem foreboding, but all it was in reality was an engineer's playhouse. It had every device that Cris could use to his advantage, and then so much more. If Vale's engineering team had this much equipment, Vale wouldn't need as many people on the police force because they could just mass produce potent security drones.

Cris had only ever been inside twice, once to make his gauntlets, which he nonchalantly named "Cris' Gauntlets" for the time being. He never really cared about naming his gauntlets because it never seemed necessary. The other time he had entered the shop was to make the already existing modifications to said gauntlets. Nonetheless, he knew his way around, and the shopkeeper even greeted him, but not by name. Cris didn't know him _that _well.

"What can I do fer ya'?" His accent made Cris want to cringe, but he ignored it. He didn't like to judge people on how they sounded; he liked to judge them on what they said in said accent. If the man didn't sound idiotic in his terminology, Cris wouldn't care about his accent for the time being.

"Can you direct me to the modification tables?" Even though he knew his way around, this place had a different layout both times he had been here, and this time was no different.

The keeper pointed to his left and said, "Go that way all the way to the back wall, then turn to yer left. The tables will be on the right." Cris thanked him and went they way he had pointed.

Like he said, the tables would be there. These modification tables were state-of-the-art, containing all the tools necessary to make any modification you seemed fit. In particular, Cris directed his attention to a machine on the table. This would safely disassemble his gauntlets without causing much trouble. Cris reasoned that there had to have been an accident that caused them to install these machines a while back. Cris did this for only his right-hand gauntlet, because, well, he only bought one modification. A dumb idea in hindsight.

Cris opened his box of parts and set to work removing the already existing pistol mod in his right gauntlet. Both of his gauntlets could switch into pistols at a moments notice, and vice versa. They conformed around his hands, and while sometimes they conformed uncomfortably, Cris had found that they were quite useful. The only problem was was that he sometimes forgot the difference in appearance between his pistol mod and his Dust rod modification. He was finally able to differentiate the difference and he set to work modifying his gauntlets.

It took a little bit of time and effort adjusting the new addition, but he finally managed to get it to fit correctly. He put it back together carefully, and put it back on his person. It didn't feel any different, yet it looked somewhat peculiar. He used the same button he used to switch between forms to activate the blade mod. In addition, there were now two thin holes in between his knuckles.

While he did admit that it looked powerful, he couldn't tell if it was going to sustain much of a beatdown. He needed to test it. If there was one thing about this workshop, the testing dummies were always in the same location. He decided it wouldn't hurt to test, so he made his way to the training grounds.

The grounds weren't anything special, being that it was just a room with punching bags and training dummies. He walked over to the training dummies, punching a bag on his way over.

He set to work by warming up by punching one of the dummies until parts of it were in pieces. After that, he decided to test out his new addition. He hit one of the buttons on his gauntlets, and the thin blades unsheathed themselves. They weren't the longest blades, but hey, they would get the job done.

He began slashing at the dummies, testing their sharpness. Surprisingly, they held true, as they made thin cuts where he slashed at. He then proceeded to testing their endurance, slashing nonstop at multiple dummies. Again, they proved their quality by not faltering in the slightest. Even though these blades were supposed to shrink to miniscule sizes, they held surprising well for their material.

He would have proceeded to testing his combos, but then there came that problem again; he had only bought one modification. A poor idea in hindsight, it seemed.

After some internal debate, he decided he would go back to the store and buy a mod for his other gauntlet, but figured he would come back tomorrow because it felt like he had walked miles. He probably did, after he realized he would have to make another walk all the way back to the store, then walk to his apartment.

He wished the owner of the workshop well, and exited the establishment.

* * *

His walk was going fine. At least, it was, until he noticed the police force and others crowded around the Dust shop.

_What the…_ was his only thought, before he was pushed aside by a police officer. "HEY!" he shouted, but the officer clearly didn't hear him.

He was determined to find out what in the world happened here. After some work he finally managed to get to the front of the crowd. He could see on the exterior a broken window and a crater a ways in front of the shop. On the interior though, it looked as though nothing really happened, minus the canisters lining the walls appearing to be empty.

In the front of all of this was the shopkeeper. He noticed Cris and beckoned him over.

"What on Remnant happened here?!"

"A guy and a few of his men walked into my store and demanded my dust. Oddly enough, they didn't take my Lien. Luckily enough for me, one of my regulars just so happens to be trained for these types of situations. Wasn't a Huntress, but might as well be. She did a fine job from preventing my entire shop from being ransacked," the shopkeeper said, a bit raspily. He looked worse for wear.

"Well, that sucks. I was coming back to buy another weapon modification."

The keeper gave him a blank look that obviously indicated that now was not the best time.

"Okay, too soon."

"Obviously. Anyways, I won't be back up for a few days. Sorry for the inconvenience, Cris."

"No problem. I can wait a few days."

With that, he began his trek back to his apartment complex, deciding that once he got there, he was going to sleep for a very long time. On his way though, something caught his eye. Far off in the distance, he saw a small airship rise into the air and depart from about where the docks were. He was looking at the airship when something compelled him to observe the airship, and upon inspection, he could see a lone figure looking in his general direction. While he did have good vision, he couldn't tell who it was from that far away. He had a feeling, though, that things just got much more complicated.

* * *

Like the shopkeeper said, he would be back up in a few days, and Cris even went for the grand re-opening. The first thing he bought was that other blade mod. He went back to the Chopshop, and modified his other gauntlet accordingly. Because of that, he found himself back at the training grounds, ready to test the full fury that was his new addition.

He began just like he did last time, minus the preliminary warm up, instead switching to testing his sharpness and endurance. Again, the results were satisfactory.

After that, he could begin to test his full rollout of moves and combinations of attacks that could render a target useless in seconds. He began by testing his switching in between forms during a fight. It seemed as if that was going alright, because in seconds, the testing dummy was torn to pieces and smashed across the floor. He then tested it against multiple enemies.

Everything he tried, it seemed as if these blades were more of a benefit than a liability. He decided to call it quits, saying that that was enough testing for the day. Having decided to leave, he figured he would just explore Vale more, attempting to keep _it _from popping up in his thoughts.

He just began walking through the town, taking lefts and rights all around, wandering with no true destination, until he heard a man yell for help some ways away in an alley way. He couldn't make out what he said entirely, but Cris was pretty sure he said something about being robbed, or something like that anyways.

_Let's get this over with, _he thought exasperatedly as he swiftly made his way through the network of back alleys that would allow him to get to the scene quickly and undetected.

Upon arrival, it did indeed look like a man was being robbed. He was surrounded by multiple men of various sizes, all of which were crowding around him, but not really doing much, which seemed off.

"Let him go, and whatever you stole, give it back to him before I knock you out, take it back, and then give it to him. There are two unnecessary steps there, if you didn't notice." Cris cracked his knuckles, which drew the attention of the mob. They weren't intimidated though, and continued to rob the man. Cris noticed they weren't intimidated though, and it was only when they heard the sound of blades being unsheathed did they really start paying attention.

They stood there for a few minutes, then looked back to the man who they were robbing, oddly. After a few moments, they split apart to let Cris have a look at the man. It was only then that he realized that he just fell into a trap. A really, really, _really, _deadly trap. He had only seen the man once but that was enough to know who he was.

"I do believe that you are of importance to me. Not really me, but my employer would like to meet you, and she's the one who pays me," Roman said with his trademark arrogance.

_God dammit, _Cris thought after he realized that he had been surrounded on all sides by men in masks and what appeared to be uniforms.

Cris raised his blades, and prepared to fight.

**I'M NOT DEAD. If you want to know why this took so long, it was for multiple reasons. One, my laptop's cooling system, well, died. That wasn't a fun time, for I couldn't really do any work either. That took about a week to get repaired, and then after that, I took a break because I was practically getting loaded by homework from AP Chemistry and AP World History. This isn't a story about my troubles though, so none of you probably care. I apologize for it being a bit less than my 5,000 word expectation, but I figured the end of this chapter was a decent place to leave it off. Also, one other thing. I'm just going to go off on a limb here and assume that even though Remnant is a completely different world, it still has some form of prostitution or skimpy clothing (sorry for being so blunt, that's just me.) Anyways, feel free to drop a review and/or favorite/follow (I GOT IT RIGHT THIS TIME). I can't get any better at writing without reviews, and seeing people favorite/follow the story really boosts my confidence, so without further ado, have a wonderful day.**


	4. Chapter 3

**I have returned, my good friends. Two quick little things before I start chapter 3. One, I'm looking at my story stats for VoM (that's just what I'm going to start calling it now :L), and I'm noticing that not many people are going past the prologue. I know, you can go ahead and admit it, that prologue was terrible, and prologues aren't my best writing suit. I figured it would add backstory that would be nice to have, but I am tempted to remove it altogether and just add that little piece of backstory into a later chapter, and make a minor tweak to chapter 1. Sorry for the people who liked it (which, I'm thinking, are like, 1%, and you guys are too nice :3), but that is most likely what is going to happen. Secondly, and lastly, the lack of reviews is real. I don't know what to take of this because nobody, and I mean NOBODY, ever gives me feedback, save for the one review that is already on here. Seriously, no PM's either. Is that supposed to make me feel as if there isn't anything bad with VoM, because if so, nobody has told me. I hate for harping on the readers, but I'm terrible. I may sound desperate for reviews and feedback, but isn't that how you get better? I mean, seriously. Anyways, now that my personal venting hour is over, lets begin chapter 3. **

**I love that I said that this was going to be "quick" little things. Oh well. At least I hope you know I didn't mean to make it that long winded. 3**

* * *

It was a peaceful day in Vale. The sun was shining, yet it wasn't to hot or too cold. The sounds of birds could be heard here and there over the sounds of mingling in the streets. Nothing was really happening to cause a commotion. No street jams, no hustle to get to jobs, no, well, _anything. _It was days like these that the citizens of Vale could enjoy in peace.

One pair in particular seemed to be enjoying the day a bit too much.

"OH MY GOSH YANG! IT'S A COOKIE BAKERY!"

"GYAHHHHH," Yang said as she was pulled into the bakery a bit forcibly by her little sister, Ruby.

Needless to say, the pair were getting odd looks from passersby.

Upon entering the bakery, Yang noticed it was, indeed, a bakery designed to making cookies. Judging by how many types of cookies were in here, ranging from chocolate chip to macadamia nut, they were going to be there for really, _really_, long time.

_Might as well get comfortable,_ Yang thought as she grabbed a magazine off the rack, picking up one that had her favorite band, _The Achieve Men_, on the front.

While Yang was looking through a magazine, Ruby was ecstatic. She had heard the rumours of bakeries like this existing, but she put them down as being "too good to be true." It was definitely true, and judging by Ruby's elation, it was definitely good.

Both sisters were just minding their own business, until about five minutes after they had entered the bakery, Ruby had finally picked out what type and sheer amount of cookies she wanted. Noticing this, Yang put the magazine down and walked up to the front counter. Because her sister didn't have any money, and Yang knew this, she had decided to pay for her. Like she always said, nothing was too much for her little sister. Still, losing Lien wasn't an enjoyable experience.

"One day, you're seriously going to regret getting this many cookies," Yang grumbled half-heartedly.

"Meh. I drink milk, I'll be fine," Ruby said.

"Whatever."

They had paid for their cookies, but something seemed off to them. _What was it they always said at Signal, _Yang thought. _Something about Hunters and Huntresses having some sort of sixth sense for danger? Nah. Too cool. _

That sixth sense proved its existence when the back wall of the entire bakery crashed to the ground in a cloud of dust. In the middle of the fallen aforementioned wall was a teenager, with gauntlets and a massive scar across his face. Looking up, they both saw none other than Roman Torchwick; nefarious, not-so-funny crime boss.

"Hey sis, wasn't this the guy you said tried to rob that Dust shop?" Yang asked.

"Yeah." Ruby glared at him menacingly.

"Why hello Red and accomplice! Fancy meeting you again," Roman said with his mocking tone.

In response, he got a set of gauntlets and a high-impact sniper rifle that just so happened to be a scythe activated, pointed, and primed at him.

"Oh for fuck's sake…" Two new, really pissed off challengers entered the fray.

* * *

**5 minutes ago**

"You have got to be kidding me."

Cris was surrounded by at least thirty men, all armed with short swords. He wasn't going to give up hope though. He could always hope that these guys were like Junior's goons; stupid with about as much common sense as a peanut.

Hope doesn't win wars by itself though.

The first goon tried an overhead swing, but Cris deflected it easily and punched him in the gut, sending him back. Another tried to swing at his feet, but he jumped up and kicked the guy, sending him flying. At this point, the goons started to realize that maybe, just _maybe,_ this kid was more than a match for them.

All the while, Torchwick was sitting back, letting the goons do his work for him. Life was easy as a crime boss with loaded employers. At least, it was easy, until one of his goons came flying back at him - "HEY, WATCH IT!" - and hit with a thud against the wall behind him. He knew without a doubt that that man would be asking for his medical bill. Sadly, for him, he was never going to get one, as at that point, Roman had decided to join the fight.

Cris had managed to somehow knock out an entire group of goons in less than two minutes. In all fairness though, they weren't prepared for the metaphorical can of ass-whoop that they had just opened when they tried to set him up. He saved the most of it, however, for the man behind it all.

"I swear, what is it with goons these days; you just can't find quality ones anymore,"

Torchwick acquiesced.

If it weren't for the fact that his goons, now immobile, had lowered his Aura, Cris would have jumped at that point. He knew, though, that jumping in would more than likely would have resulted in him getting knocked out, taken away, and the probability of him being forced into something was very high, knowing who Torchwick had once had affiliations with. For now, he would just let Roman do his talking.

"Well kid, I'll admit it. You weren't what we were expecting when we came looking for you. I am, however, afraid to say that this is the end of the line." For emphasis, he raised his cane and a crosshair appeared towards the end of the barrel of it.

Cris knew what was going to come next. He jumped out of the way as an explosive flare made contact with the ground that he was just standing on. He ran up to Torchwick, going for a sideways slash, only to be blocked by Torchwick's cane, who then hit him on the side of his torso with it. Cris hopped backwards to put some distance between him and Torchwick, while also allowing him to think. Absentmindedly, he grabbed the side of his ribs, which felt tender to the touch._ Damn, he hits hard with that thing,_ he thought.

Deciding upon his options, he realized that he was in no shape to fight, and his best option was to try and find some form of force that would at least make Torchwick back down.

He began to hesitate, and it was only when Torchwick started lining up for another shot that he decided to turn tail and leave. "Hey! Get back here, kid!" Roman yelled as he gave chase to Cris.

Cris had run through a few alleyways before Torchwick had finally managed to catch up to him. He didn't hesitate in firing a shot off, where Cris ducked behind a dumpster until he heard the distinctive sound of the flare hitting concrete, which at that point, he began running again. He knew it took Torchwick a few seconds to reload his cane, as it was a one-shot weapon by nature.

He kept running, repeating what he did the first time if Torchwick shot, until he heard the sounds of Vale; the signs of life. He ran down a few more alleyways, until he could see light radiating from one of the alleyways. He was currently in a clearing, and he had stopped to catch his breath for just one moment, thinking that his superior knowledge of these back alleys would surpass Torchwick's. He was wrong, however, when unbeknownst to him, Torchwick had kept up the entire time. He was also unbeknownst to the fact that Torchwick had inserted a more volatile Dust crystal into his cane. It was only when Cris had turned around to check himself that he realized that he was too late. The shot hit him full force, sending him flying backwards, literally _collapsing _the wall he had impacted. The last thing he could hear before he blacked out was the faint sounds of two teenage girls talking to Torchwick.

* * *

**Present**

"I swear, I just never get any sort of break from this job," Roman complained.

He raised his cane just in time to block a swing from Ruby's scythe, but still got knocked back by the impact. If it weren't for his Aura, he would most likely have been knocked into a wall. He knew this girl's tricks, however, and he _would not _be fooled again.

He let her take her swing, and jumped back far enough to put some distance, where he raised his cane and fired as she hit the ground. She had the time to block it, but a cloud of smoke emerged from it.

He started laughing to himself, thinking he had won, until he saw a glow coming from the cloud of smoke. He had no time to react as that glow had closed the gap much quicker than he had expected. He raised his cane for some form of defense, but it didn't really help as he was still knocked into a wall by a flaming fist, coming from a certain blonde haired girl with a short temper.

_I feel dizzy…_ he thought before he regained sense, and his only thought was that he was losing to two _girls. _He wouldn't just LET that happen to him.

He let Ruby swing overhead again, and dodged again, but instead of firing at her, he swung at her head and made contact. She was sent flying sideways into a wall, but not being knocked unconscious, thanks to her Aura. It was still enough to exhaust her though.

Yang had lost it at that point. She let her Semblance do the work for her, letting it guide her fist towards Torchwick's face for hurting her baby sister. He dodged it, and jabbed at her. She went for a right hook, but he ducked and swung in an upwards arc, knocking her back. She used that momentum to roll backwards, activate Ember Celica, and come rocketing towards Torchwick, bent on revenge. She didn't realize that Torchwick had already moved, thus resulting in her crashing into a wall, nearly collapsing it from the force behind that fist. Obviously, she was knocked out.

Torchwick laughed maniacally, not paying attention to his surroundings, as per usual. Cris started to regain consciousness, and was on his feet in a few moments. He saw Torchwick laughing over two bodies, and decided that was the last straw; this man _was _going to die today.

"I believe we have unfinished business," he said, lacing it with as much venom as he could.

Torchwick heard him, and looked to face him, the former still wearing that arrogant smirk that made him think he had won. "Really now? How about we finish it, here and now."

"I couldn't agree more." Cris decided that this man was worthy of being obliterated, and activated his Dust rod. At least, he tried to, but the fight and the crash into the wall had made it malfunction, making it not want to activate. _Of all the time to do this, why NOW?!_

He had no time to figure it out though, as Torchwick was already on him. He had to dodge a few swings before he decided to give up on the damned thing and begin fighting. He blocked a few swings from Torchwick, before going for a slash, which did nothing but lightly scratch the surface of Torchwick's white jacket. Torchwick retaliated by swinging his cane at Cris, who had to block using the metal of his gauntlets. This caused them to spark, which made Cris back away from Torchwick.

He had zero time to do anything, so he tried to activate his Dust rod, and what he got wasn't what he was going for. The blades of his gauntlets lit up, crackling with electricity. _WOAH! Apparently I never read the manual for this thing, _Cris thought. This fight just kept getting more interesting by the second.

He and Torchwick stood, face-to-face, in the middle of a large alleyway. They both swung at each other at the same time, and the impact could be heard within a few hundred meters. They were both sent flying backwards from the force put out from the clash of their weapons. Cris had his gauntlets overflowing with voltage, whereas Torchwick had been putting excessive amounts of Aura into his next swing, intending to finish the fight there.

Cris had managed to get up first, and proceeded to punch Torchwick in the face, presumably knocking him out. Really, he was just faking it, but faking it didn't make it hurt less.

Cris, who had managed to neutralize his gauntlets, proceeded to attempt to wake up one of the girls who had managed to earn his trust after what they had did. Never ONCE in his last seven years had someone tried to help him, save for Junior, who had just cared about his proficiency in recon and stakeouts.

The blonde proved to be unconscious, but the smaller girl reacted to his touch. "What happened…" She said, albeit a bit groggily.

"You got knocked up the side of the head into a wall by Torchwick," Cris said.

"You're blunt, aren't you?"

"I try. Now get up, the other one is unconscious."

"Unconscious?!" This got her to stand up right away, and Cris, expecting it would happen, had to support her for a second so she could regain her balance.

"You know, you probably shouldn't have gotten up so quickly," Cris said.

"It's my sister though; wouldn't you get up to see if your sister was okay?"

"I don't actually have a sister, but I get your point, I suppose."

"Good." She proceeded to attempt to wake up her sister, but nothing had worked. Cris was actually starting to believe she wasn't going to get up until her Aura replenished; that was his belief, until the smaller girl mentioned something about someone stealing her motorcycle, to which she responded to with, "I'LL KILL THEM!"

While this process was going on, Torchwick had gotten up, walked off to his private helicopter, and left the vicinity. It wasn't until he was long gone that they had realized that he had gotten away.

"It's going to be a pain to get him again. I got lucky when I beat him. Yeah, I said it. I was lucky," Cris mentioned to them both.

"How did you get lucky?" the blonde replied.

"Well, I never read the manual for the sword mod on my blades, but apparently I discovered that they can channel the power of Dust and make the blades have a special effect."

"Blades are cool," the smaller girl replied quietly.

They sat in awkward silence for a few moments, before Cris said, "Well, thanks, I suppose."

"For what?" The blonde replied.

"You two might not know it, but he was going to try to take me to his employer, who would then proceed to tie me up, lock me away, and throw away the key. At least, that what I think he was going to do. I don't really know, nor do I care."

"Oh," she replied meekly. "Well, it was no problem. I guess we should thank you two. If you hadn't gotten up when you did, we probably could have had the same fate as you," she said.

"No problem. What are your names?"

"I'm Yang Xiao Long, presumed queen of badassery," the blonde said.

"And I'm her sister, Ruby Rose," the smaller girl replied.

"I swear sis, we need to come up with a badass title for you one day."

"I have a feeling that your sister can be a pain at times, right Ruby?"

"Hey, watch it, just because we saved each others skins doesn't give you the right to make fun of me," Yang said.

"Yeah, she can be a pain, at times," Ruby replied with a victorious grin on her face..

"TRAITOR! GYAAAAAH," Yang said.

Cris chuckled. "I'm Cris. I guess it wasn't all that bad meeting new people."

"Likewise," Yang said.

"Just one question. Who taught you two how to fight like that. I see a lot of people who don't know how to fight these days."

"Well, my uncle taught me how to use a scythe," Ruby replied.

"I kinda taught myself. I'm going to be a Huntress one day, but that all starts at Beacon," Yang said.

"Beacon? I presume you are going?" Cris asked.

"Yeah, it's going to be so awesome, I just can't wait. It's also going to be awesome going with my lil' sis!" Yang proceeded to give Ruby a bear hug, and Cris could literally hear the breath being squeezed out of her.

"Wait, aren't you a bit young to go to Beacon?"

"Well yeah, but do you remember that Dust shop robbery that happened a few days ago?"

"Yeah."

"I stopped it, for the most part."

"Wait, that was YOU the shopkeeper was talking about!?"

"You know him?"

"Yeah! He's a pretty cool guy," Cris said.

"Well, I suppose that this won't be the last time I'll be seeing you two."

"Why?"

"I'm going to Beacon as well."

"Cool. I guess while we're there we can talk about those awesome gauntlets of yours'," Ruby said. "What do you call them?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know, I call my scythe Crescent Rose, Yang calls her gauntlets Ember Celica, so on so forth."

"Oh…. I don't actually have a name for them. Never really proved to care enough."

"WHAT?! Weapons are always worthy of care; they are literally an extension of yourself, just a lot cooler," Ruby exclaimed.

"It never really came up, okay. Naming my gauntlets is not going to change them at all."

"That's what you think. If you don't have a name for them by the time we arrive at Beacon, I am going to force you to sit down and come up with one," Ruby said.

"Yeah, I second that," Yang agreed.

"Whatever, I'll try to think of something," Cris replied.

"Well, I guess we'll be seeing you later! Yang, OUT!" Yang yelled as she ran out of the alleyway, Ruby following close behind.

"Bunch of nuts. Bunch of damned, crazy _nuts_, those two," Cris said as he casually walked out onto the streets, acting as if nothing had happened.

* * *

Torchwick had managed to make it back to his headquarters in one piece. Cinder was awaiting his return.

"What happened?" She asked.

"You remember that kid you called me about a few days ago? Well, he showed up and ruined it all. He's switched over to the side of our enemies. The side of _Huntsmen._"

"Hmm. That definitely changes things," she said. "No matter, just remember that when you are collecting the Dust that you steer clear of him."

"Just how do you know him, exactly?" Torchwick inquired.

Cinder smirked. "That is a story for another time."

* * *

**Finally got that one over with. I think I've finally figured out how often I work on chapters, and I've also realized that I don't think I'm ready for the 5,000 word goal yet. If I can work it out, good, that's a juicy chapter to read. Also, I'm pretty sure I'm terrible at fight scenes, but at least I'm not making the fights unreasonable favorable towards one side (cough cough Lighting Child). That counts for something, right? :D Also, if you guys honestly want to help me out here, PM me suggestions for the name of Cris' gauntlets. I already have an idea in mind, but if you have an idea that you're willing to share, I'll credit you in the next chapter or two, depending on when I include the naming process as detailed by Ruby. (Poor Cris)**

**Also, I don't know if I'm good at telling the story from different perspectives correctly, but I'm trying to do it right. I'm pretty sure that portion where I was referring to Yang as Yang, then switching over to 'the blonde' was confusing everyone.**

**Anyways, PLEASE leave a review, and drop me a favorite/follow if you'd like to see more. Ciao, my friends that I don't know yet.**


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